TEACHERS ASSOCIATION OF ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY

Anne Arundel educators want to be with our students—but we need safe schools to do so. We need to be guided by science and have the necessary funding, support, and policies in place to protect the health of educators, students, and families.

Educators, parents, and community leaders and organizations are calling on the Anne Arundel Board of Education to:
• Post visible safety protocols at every AACPS work location
• Mandate mask-wearing that complies with Anne Arundel County protective measures
• Socially distanced classrooms, hallways, and workspaces providing 6 feet of separation
• Confirm properly working ventilation systems to ensure adequate air flow and air quality as well as a regular schedule for changing and adjusting filters
• Close classrooms and locations with no windows or lack of proper ventilation
• Access to physically distanced transportation for students
• Moderate or severely restrict public traffic into AACPS buildings, develop appropriate screening protocols, and sign-in sheets for all who enter
• Clear, detailed, and publicly available plans in the event of an employee or student that tests positive for coronavirus within a location
• Flexible accommodations for families, educators, and students with health factors making them especially vulnerable to dangerous health outcomes if exposed to coronavirus
• Establish regular cleaning schedule for all common areas and classrooms
• Develop policies and train educators, staff, and students on how best to operate safely within schools while the pandemic persists
• Clear protocols for closing and notifying those potentially exposed within a school or other AACPS work location
• Paid administrative leave for employees required to quarantine
• Clear, detailed, and publicly available plans to address the transition to back to school, the trauma of a pandemic, and instructional issues, including mitigating the effects of learning loss and the digital divide

We, the undersigned community organizations and individuals, are in agreement with the above requests to ensure a safe reopening of AACPS for families, educators, and students. Our name or organization may be listed as a supporter of TAAAC’s “We Love Safe Schools” support letter. Our goal is to create the imperative for the Anne Arundel Board of Education to open schools when it can be done safely and to listen to parents and educators before making decisions that may affect them.